Snow Performance

Today's early season snow storm didn't stop plenty of cars that had no business being on hilly, winding unplowed backroads. As a result it was nightmare drive home through the carnage. I have to say the '18 Taco(all stock) is excellent, better than my previous Tundras. I had to do several somewhat precision maneuvers between stuck cars on steep hills and it was no problem.

 

Yup. Tacoma’s do great. Then again, most 4wd or awd do well with good tires.

 

Right on drive safe out there

 

It's 4w drive not 4w stop- so keep that in mind. My 2017 access cab going up powdered 2-3" on a grade would hop/shutter (maybe since it's lighter over the rear wheels?) my new DBL cab limited- can't wait to see if it just goes and doesn't hop.

 

To be expected. 4WD is magical but common sense goes a long way.

 

I've had a lot of 4x4 and AWD vehicles over the years and a lot of winter driving time. Old Toyotas, Isuzus, Chevys, Fords, and 2 Tundras. Point was the truck even with stock tires is pretty good at finding traction, not all are. S mode almost as good as a stick for comp braking on downhills.

 

Yesterday was the first real test my Tacoma had in snow with 4x4 engaged and I was really happy with how it performed. This is my first 4wd vehicle so I can't compare it to anything else i've owned, but I would have been shit out of luck had I been driving my last car.

 

Now get a set of 4 winter tires and feel the difference!

 

In math this would be called traction squared, and stopping distance halfed.
Drivers only consider the traction part of driving...the snow tires half your stopping distance

Once changed over to winter tires adapt to doodlewad behind you on bald summer tires coming at you at 100 mph.
He will ram you.

 

While tires are important for sure, you are likely feeling the brilliance of TRAC, VSC and ABS lol.
I can drive in 2WD most of the time unless the snow gets pretty deep. The nannies do a great job of getting traction and keeping you from sliding around. ABS helps you stop but nothing keeps the dumbasses away.

 

I call the first snow storms of the season Darwin Storms. It gets the idiot drivers out of the driving pool. You just have to be careful they don't take you with them.

 

Luckily where I live most people know how to drive in the snow. Still a few dumbasses but we get a lot of it and teach our kids how to drive in it.

 

As you can see from my avatar snow is a thing where I live too, but every damn year a we seem to grow another crop of idiots. I usually try to take a vacation day on the first "commuter special" snow storm. After the first couple of storms the dumbasses have figured out that you can't drive 70+ mph on snowy freeways, and just because you have 4wd and can go, it doesn't mean you can stop.

 

Took me 7 hours to go 28 miles in that NJ mess the other day.
That was in a Freightliner W700(fedex truck).

I was not happy, but when I finally got in the Taco to drive home I was pleased to know I wasn’t gonna get stuck. Highway was littered with abandoned vehicles.

 

I would think the OR stock tires would do better in snow than the Sport, no?

We used to have an Avalanche. It was a monster in the snow even with stock tires. Nowadays I have winter tires for my car.

 

Saw this today...

 

Brilliance? Please. VSC Off button is your best friend in slippery conditions in 4HI. Toyota's TRAC and VSC is no good in 4HI slippery conditions. TRAC cuts engine power when you most need it. Maybe you don't know this, but when you're trying to gain speed in 4HI slippery conditions, the very LAST thing you want is a nanny cutting engine power.

Toyota's ABS also is considered to be not so good. That isn't so much of a problem. Anytime you're on a slippery road it's SOP before braking hard to put an auto trans or manual into neutral.

 

And another one with no clue.
There are very specific situations where it is better to turn off VSC... trying to start moving on a slick hill for starters. Otherwise, VSC and TRAC are better than you are and ABS works just fine.
Everyone thinks they are smarter than the engineers and drive better than the computer and sensors. They aren't and can't.

 

If I’m trying to stay in 2HI for some reason I will hit the VSC button once to enable the Auto LSD function and to turn off throttle limiting when trying to get moving in icy conditions. I find it needs some tire slip to allow the brake actuated Auto LSD to work better. In 4HI all traction control remains on. Shifting into neutral is a terrible idea. Keeping the truck in gear and down shifting provides engine braking and will reduce stopping distance as well as allow you to control slides somewhat with power to the wheels as needed.

 

Yes, S mode on slick downhills just like a stick, only enough brake to make up the rest, works good. I left everything else on in 4HI and had no issues, and I had to stop and start several times on an unplowed hill. Comparing the Taco and Tundra, in this case less is more. The Tundra has a very aggressive pedal map and spins up easy, even on just wet roads. The Taco is much easier to drive and stay hooked up. The best of all as expected was my old '81 4x4 2.2L. With 33s, no extra power to waste, it did it all with no nannys.